As I loose weight I've learned that it's not as easy as I thought it'd be. I knew it'd be hard but not the way I thought. I just thought eating right would be a challenge but I've learned that the mind is an awful thing. I know I'm loosing but my mind is playing tricks on me.

So I want to know what has loosing taught you?

@@Aribay1

Weight loss has taught me....

(1) I have discovered that I am a adrenaline junkie

(2) My inner dialog with myself has changed. ( I'm far more positive and forgiving of myself)

(3) That this takes work after you get out of the honeymoon phase. The work never stops even after goal.

I learned that what I see in the mirror does not resemble reality. When I weighed 250+ pounds, I didn't think I looked that fat. Now, I can't see the weight loss and keep thinking that I'll look better in 10 more pounds, 10 more pounds, 10 more pounds.

I've also realized that I have some disordered eating habits and it seems like the surgery shined a big spotlight on these issues. It's amazing that I never saw these issues before surgery. I'm working on them but it's a process.

!) the mind is a powerful organ BUT CAN be retrained.

2) I was a sugar addict that my brain wanted more an more until I decided to put a stop to it. I ate for any emotion

3) my first month of PO was brutal. My brain was insistant on me giving in for the dependancy of "sugar" it was my drug

4) the withdrawls were bad. It was very very hard but I was determined I wasnt going to allow myself to be a slave to food..now I eat to live an not live to eat. had to replace one addiction for another.

5) I am NOT perfect. I had to realize I would have the slip up days but I have to love myself an forgive myself an get back on the wagon. 35 yrs of yoyo dieting an emotional eating is hard to overcome. I had to make up my mind an determination to say NO.

I don't know if this is what you had in mind but there will be struggles. therapy helped me termendously to put things in perspective over the yrs (Im not saying everyone needs therapy plz no one take this the wrong way by no means) it was what helped ME an I am grateful for that. I agree with @@jenn1 it will be alot of work after goal is met. a life time!

@@*Lexie*

Gosh it's like you're in my mind! Remember when at first it was all about getting healthy, and now that I'm pretty much there, I can't stop obsessing about getting the rest of this weight off. Its like I wont be happy until I hit goal. I'm not capable of just being happy about how much I've lost and where I'm at now. It's always "Another 10 lbs I'll start looking even better"...it doesn't help that I'm going to Hawaii in less than 2 months and I'm worried I'm not going to be where I want to be because my weight loss has pretty much stalled out. UGH the head games! This 6 week stall has caused me to pretty much go off the rails as of late...

@@*Lexie* I totally agree with you dear. its a process! when I started dropping an the hubs would tell me daily he sees changes an would praise me to no end I couldnt see it. now I really see it! I posted pics last wk just so it would be real to me. we are all going to be learning something about ourself daily I believe. as soon as I had my surgery my mind changed immediatly. I thought differantly an saw things differantly. for the better. this has definitly been a process an its alot to take in. learning experiance take one day at a time. last wk I had a few days that I became really overwhelmed the past few months I had been pushing "fear" of seeing this new body image I was estatic for the loss an excited the way I am looking an I have a new found self confidance but also went into a hiding mode. its really hard to explain. but that pretty much sums it up. all these emotions an yes I had shed a few tears to release I was home alone an I quit fighting it an just gave in. I felt better the next day. still wont dress an undress in front of the hubs. talked to my therapist an she said its a process an these emotions are normal. giving it a few months to sink in an see how Im feeling about it then to talk about it. she is soo helpful. hang in there! xx

This is a fabulous topic with such helpful responses. I am one month away from submitting to the insurance for approval - and even this initial part of the process is opening my eyes to what an unhealthy relationship I have with food. I know surgery is the right choice and I am clear on how much hard work the journey will be - but I am also "grieving" the fact that I will no longer have my food crutch. Not to mention a glass of Chardonnay.

Please keep the responses coming, you veterans out there!

@@scoutmom I know this is alot of reading an prbly scary but theres alot of psychological rehab that goes on if I can put it that way..haha..my first month It was a tug of war between my heart an my brain literally! my surgeon warned me the first 4 weeks are the worst. they were for me! cant speak for everyone else but I would do this all over again in a heart beat to regain control of myself an my life back! I was prepared for this inner war with all the preop classes that are required to go thru in order to be approved I am soo thankful it had to be done. hearing the words from the platform an actually living thru it Im just happy I did it. It will be 8 months the 8th an its a distant memory now. ITS AMAZING!! best wishes! keep us posted!xx

@@Babbs I'm going to Hawaii in December of this year. My goal is to run the Honolulu marathon and then lounge at the beach for a week as a reward. I have a lot of work to do between now and December.

Let me know how your trip is and I would love any suggestions on hotels or things to do.

!) the mind is a powerful organ BUT CAN be retrained.

2) I was a sugar addict that my brain wanted more an more until I decided to put a stop to it. I ate for any emotion

3) my first month of PO was brutal. My brain was insistant on me giving in for the dependancy of "sugar" it was my drug

4) the withdrawls were bad. It was very very hard but I was determined I wasnt going to allow myself to be a slave to food..now I eat to live an not live to eat. had to replace one addiction for another.

5) I am NOT perfect. I had to realize I would have the slip up days but I have to love myself an forgive myself an get back on the wagon. 35 yrs of yoyo dieting an emotional eating is hard to overcome. I had to make up my mind an determination to say NO.

I don't know if this is what you had in mind but there will be struggles. therapy helped me termendously to put things in perspective over the yrs (Im not saying everyone needs therapy plz no one take this the wrong way by no means) it was what helped ME an I am grateful for that. I agree with @@jenn1 it will be alot of work after goal is met. a life time!

I was also a sugar addict. I'm honestly still battling it everyday.

I also feel like sugar was my drug. Food in general but my sweet tooth was the main reason I think I was getting bigger.

I'm thinking about therapy but (maybe I'm in denial) I don't think I'm struggling too bad. And the brain just needs to be retrained.

I learned that what I see in the mirror does not resemble reality. When I weighed 250+ pounds, I didn't think I looked that fat. Now, I can't see the weight loss and keep thinking that I'll look better in 10 more pounds, 10 more pounds, 10 more pounds.

I've also realized that I have some disordered eating habits and it seems like the surgery shined a big spotlight on these issues. It's amazing that I never saw these issues before surgery. I'm working on them but it's a process.

It's hard for me to believe I thought I was fine at 260lbs. I would trick myself to accept that I was a big girl and that I just needed to love myself. That only worked for about an hour. I was so unhappy now although I lost almost 60lbs I feel happier but my mind still plays tricks on me. I also look back at pictures and just sit in shock! I was watching a family friend who is really heavy eat the other day and just thought wow that looks really ugly(over eating) I hope nobody thinks I'm fat shaming I'm just saying when it's you, you never think of it looking bad but when you see it your just shocked.

1. I've learned it's what you do day after day that makes the difference in weight loss. One bad choice won't ruin it for you, but a bad day or two can quickly result in undoing a lot of hard work.

2. I have to eat a lot less than I would have ever suspected in order to lose and maintain.

3. Even after 2 years, my new "lifestyle" isn't easy or something I do automatically.

4. The restriction and loss of hunger you get initially are not as strong further out.

5. You do adjust to eating less, and soon smaller portions feel more normal.

6. It gets harder over time.

7. Even though losing and maintaining is hard, being fat is harder. It's worth every bit of effort required.

Love reading all the responses.

I'm working on my body issues with a therapist. I have day's where I still see myself as big. I am also saying ten more pounds. I think it's me that has to be comfortable with my body and not with a number on the scale.

I was also a sugar addict. I'm honestly still battling it everyday.

I also feel like sugar was my drug. food in general but my sweet tooth was the main reason I think I was getting bigger.

I'm thinking about therapy but (maybe I'm in denial) I don't think I'm struggling too bad. And the brain just needs to be retrained.

I had been lying an making excuses to myself (denial) for over 15 or so yrs..I had to get control BACK an I knew I needed professional help. carbs or sugar is all I craved bc they are feel good on what it does to the brain. this was way stronger for me to do on my own. I used food for every emotion under the sun! so I was always eating the bad stuff. I had to get to the bottom of WHY I was craving foods. it was a visious cycle. thats where I turned for help. I was at least 10 yrs I also finally found a endo who ran the appropriate BW that I wanted done an finally found out I was insulin resistant, thyroid disease (hashis) an I asked to be put on armour an she did bc if she hadnt I was going else where who would. she did. then I cleaned out the pantry! all modern grains, anything with surculose, high fructose corn syrup, malitol, splenda aspertame was the worst, everything got tossed out an is not aloud in the house. all these chemicals were making me crave more an more...but I had to make my mind up an take control back an it has been the direction of 2 of my specialists sending me to have the sleeve my stomach hormones were crazy...with all of the above put in action I am a happier person, an so far so good with switching cheap foods pumped full of processed chemicals an replaced with whole organic foods I dont each much fruit grapes I stick to an pears but with all combined doing much much better . I'll be 8 months PO the end of the wk an 100 pds down I eat a little all day an it has worked for me. but processed white sugar an these artificial sweetners were either calming me an then when I crashed Id have to have more. therapy was the best thing an bc I had been for so long all this other changes it all fell into place ....I am not a slave to food anymore. (the withdrawls were bad not going to lie)..but ya got to go thru to stop it...

I was also a sugar addict. I'm honestly still battling it everyday.

I also feel like sugar was my drug. food in general but my sweet tooth was the main reason I think I was getting bigger.

I'm thinking about therapy but (maybe I'm in denial) I don't think I'm struggling too bad. And the brain just needs to be retrained.

I had been lying an making excuses to myself (denial) for over 15 or so yrs..I had to get control BACK an I knew I needed professional help. carbs or sugar is all I craved bc they are feel good on what it does to the brain. this was way stronger for me to do on my own. I used food for every emotion under the sun! so I was always eating the bad stuff. I had to get to the bottom of WHY I was craving foods. it was a visious cycle. thats where I turned for help. I was at least 10 yrs I also finally found a endo who ran the appropriate BW that I wanted done an finally found out I was insulin resistant, thyroid disease (hashis) an I asked to be put on armour an she did bc if she hadnt I was going else where who would. she did. then I cleaned out the pantry! all modern grains, anything with surculose, high fructose corn syrup, malitol, splenda aspertame was the worst, everything got tossed out an is not aloud in the house. all these chemicals were making me crave more an more...but I had to make my mind up an take control back an it has been the direction of 2 of my specialists sending me to have the sleeve my stomach hormones were crazy...with all of the above put in action I am a happier person, an so far so good with switching cheap foods pumped full of processed chemicals an replaced with whole organic foods I dont each much fruit grapes I stick to an pears but with all combined doing much much better . I'll be 8 months PO the end of the wk an 100 pds down I eat a little all day an it has worked for me. but processed white sugar an these artificial sweetners were either calming me an then when I crashed Id have to have more. therapy was the best thing an bc I had been for so long all this other changes it all fell into place ....I am not a slave to food anymore. (the withdrawls were bad not going to lie)..but ya got to go thru to stop it...

I see my surgeon again so I'm definitely adding sugar addiction to my questions for him.

Thanks for sharing!

I'm 7 months out and I agree. Sometimes it's just hard to not munch on unhealthy things. I have a snack bar at work that is really trying my patience. I am sticking to it though because nothing tastes as good as thin feels. Stick to it guys we can do this! I'm down almost 93lbs since 8/22/14 sleeve date !